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Andruw Jones
Andruw Rudolf Jones (born April 23, 1977 in Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles) is an Antillean Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees. During his first two years with the Braves, Jones most often appeared as a right fielder. However, since then, he has played exclusively in center field. Aside from 1996, when he appeared in 32 games, Jones has displayed his durability by appearing in 150 or more games in each year of his career. Jones is a noted defensive specialist and has won 10 Rawlings Gold Glove Award for center fielders from 1998-2007 He has appeared in the All-star Game five times and he won both the Hank Aaron Award and a Silver Slugger Award for Outfielders in . In 2002, he was the inaugural National League All-Star Final Vote winner. Early professional career Andruw Jones signed with the Atlanta Braves organization as a free agent in at the age of 16. By , he was being hailed as "the next Griffey." The Braves brought Jones up to Atlanta on August 15,1996 when he was just 19 years old. He spent his early time in the majors playing in right field because established center fielders Marquis Grissom and Kenny Lofton were already entrenched in the position. In Game 1 of the 1996 World Series on October 20,1996, Jones was able to demonstrate his talents on the national stage. He connected for two home runs to left field on his first two at-bats as the Braves routed the New York Yankees 12-1. Jones became the youngest player ever to homer in the World Series (breaking Mickey Mantle's record - on Mantle's birthday.) Major league career Jones became the Braves' everyday right fielder in , but he posted a disappointing .231 average. In , Andruw moved to center field and had a much more encouraging season. His average improved to .271, he hit 31 homers, and stole 27 bases. He also won his first of ten straight Gold Glove Awards. Whether he was in the batter's box or gliding under a fly ball to make a casual basket catch, Jones played the game in a very relaxed manner. This temporarily earned him the ire of manager Bobby Cox in June 1998 in an oft-forgotten incident in which Cox pulled Jones out of a game because he felt Andruw had lazily allowed a single to drop in center field. Still only 22 years old, Jones had similar numbers in , and though he was a dependable (he played all 162 games that season) and good player, many began to wonder if or when he would live up to the potential that they believed he possessed. He had a mini-breakout season in with career highs in average (.303), homers (36), and RBI (104). He also earned his first All-Star appearance. However, in his average fell and his strikeouts went up. By now, Jones had gained nearly 30 pounds since reaching the majors, greatly diminishing his speed on the basepaths (he would not steal more than 11 bases after ). He maintained similar numbers in , but was still playing superb defense. In , with power-hitting Gary Sheffield in the lineup, Jones set a new career high in RBI (116). Unfortunately, he took a step backward in when he hit fewer than 30 homers and struck out 147 times. Breakout in 2005 Although Andruw had developed into an outstanding center fielder and a solid offensive player, the general feeling shared by many fans and critics was that Jones had not lived up to the superstar expectations that had been pinned on him ten years before. Prior to the season, Jones increased his workout regimen and, following advice given by Hall of Famer Willie Mays, widened his batting stance. The result was Andruw's most productive offensive season ever. Jones hit a major league-leading 51 home runs, surpassing Hank Aaron's and Eddie Mathews' single-season club record. He also led the National League with a career-high 128 RBI. Jones's torrid hitting in the summer, especially while teammate Chipper Jones was out with injury, helped carry the Braves to their 14th consecutive division championship. He finished just behind St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman Albert Pujols in the 2005 NL MVP vote. 2006 Before the 2006 season, Jones played in the World Baseball Classic for the Netherlands. Jones continued to dominate opposing pitchers in , finishing the season with 41 home runs and 129 RBI. Jones also became more selective at the plate (82 walks, as compared to 64 the prior season), which helped him score 107 runs during 2006, an increase of 12 over the prior year and his most in a single season since 2000. He won his ninth consecutive Gold Glove award. 2007 Coming into the last year of his current contract with the Braves, many fans and sports analysts alike felt that 2007 would be the last year in which Jones would be a Brave, mostly because of his potential value on the market that the Braves would not be able to afford. Jones, however, had an unexpectedly poor start to the season, striking out 51 times in 41 games and carrying a batting average in the low .200's for the majority of April and May. On April 30th, Jones hit a three-run walk-off homer against the Philadelphia Phillies. On May 28th, Jones hit his 350th career homer off of Chris Capuano. After the All-star break, Jones continued to have productive power numbers; however, his batting average remained poor. On October 2nd, the Braves announced they would not be bringing Jones back for the season. 2008 On December 5, 2007, Jones agreed to a 2-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, worth $36.2 million. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071205&content_id=2319266&vkey=hotstove2007&fext=.jsp A surprising development to not just Dodger fans, but many baseball experts, as Jones had clearly lost a step defensively, hit only .222 in his final season with Atlanta, and according to Braves management, lost his passion for the game. Andruw's struggles at the plate and in the field followed him to Los Angeles, as he went through a rough slump at the beginning of the season, his batting averaging dipping as low as .100. Even more frustrating for his teammates, as of July 26th, 2008, he had only 4 hits in 53 at bats with runners in scoring position. This lack of performance forced him into the back of the lineup, and has resulted in booing from fans after failing to hit. In a season full of misplayed balls, and strike out after strike out, Andruw's singular highlight came when on April 19 Jones hit his first home run as a Dodger, appropriately enough at Turner Field against the Braves. Due to his lack of production, Jones was dropped to eighth in the Dodger line-up. This is the first time since 1999 that Jones has hit eighth in any line-up. In May, 2008, Jones (along with Johnny Damon, Brad Ausmus, and Derek Lowe), was one of only four active major league ballplayers who had played at least 10 years in the majors without ever going on the disabled list. Andruw Jones was put on the disabled list for the first time in his entire career on May 25,2008. He had knee surgery after a bad batting practice earlier that day. On June 27, 2008 Dodgers manager Joe Torre benched Jones and said he would only be used as a spot starter in the future effectively giving up on the season. On the day he was benched Jones had just a .166 batting average, two home runs and 12 RBIs coupled with 68 strikeouts in 187 at-bats.http://www.dailynews.com/ci_10028088?source=rss 2009-Present Day Jones bounced around over the next few years, playing in Texas in 2009 and with the Chicago White Sox in 2010, before finding a home as the Yankees fourth outfielder in 2011. Jones had his highest batting average since 2006 in 2011, despite only playing in 77 games against mainly left handed pitching, which Jones batted .286 with 8 home runs and 25 RBIs vs LHP, and in total batted .247 with 13 Home runs and 33 RBIs. In 2012, the Yankees' Brett Gardner injured his elbow after just 9 games, which forced Jones to start more than usual, mostly in Left Field while also splitting time at DH with Raul Ibañez. On July 23rd, the Yankees traded for Ichiro Suzuki, which allowed for the Yankees to put Jones and Ibañez back in their original role of platooning DH. Personal life Jones met his wife Nicole in an Atlanta mall in 1998. The couple married in 2002, and he has a daughter, Madison, from a previous relationship and a son, Druw with Nicole. Andruw and his family currently live in Duluth, Georgia. He has said that he and his family will continue to live in Duluth in the off season. Jones' current car collection, as showcased on MTV Cribs and Unique Whips, includes: *Aston Martin DB9 *Aston Martin Vanquish *Bentley Continental GTC *Range Rover *Dodge Viper *Buick Skylark *Ford Orion *Mercedes S-Class *Mercedes McLaren SLR Career Stats (Through 2007 Season) ■=Led NL Awards and Accomplishments * Won Minor League Player of the Year Award in 1995 and 1996 * Jones was the youngest player in the National League in 1996 and 1997 * 10-Time NL Gold Glove Award Winner (1998-2007) * 5-Time All-Star (2000, 2002-03, 2005-06) * Inaugural National League All-Star Final Vote winner (2002) * Led the Majors with 51 home runs in 2005 * Holds Braves record for most home runs in a season (2005, with 51) * Led the National League with 656 at bats in 2000 * Led the National League with 128 RBIs in 2005 * NL Silver Slugger Award for CF in 2005 * NL Hank Aaron Award as the best offensive player in 2005 * NL Player of the Month for June and August 2005 * Major League Player of the Year for 2005 See also * 50 home run club * Top 500 home run hitters of all time * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI * List of Major League Baseball RBI champions * List of Major League Baseball home run champions * Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game External links * Category:1977 births Category:Hank Aaron Award Category:National League All-Stars Category:2000 National League All-Stars Category:2002 National League All-Stars Category:2003 National League All-Stars Category:2005 National League All-Stars Category:2006 National League All-Stars Category:Dutch Antillean baseball players Category:Atlanta Braves players Category:People from Curaçao Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Dutch baseball players Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:2006 World Baseball Classic players of the Netherlands Category:Living people Category:Major league center fielders Category:National League home run champions Category:National League RBI champions Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players Category:Players